


How Life Does Turn Out

by Perri Smith (neonhummingbird)



Category: While You Were Sleeping (1995)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-21
Updated: 2013-12-21
Packaged: 2018-01-05 09:44:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1092448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neonhummingbird/pseuds/Perri%20Smith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life doesn't always turn out the way you plan.... Sometimes, it's better.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How Life Does Turn Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lunarknightz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunarknightz/gifts).



Lucy doesn't want to stop kissing Jack, but Mary's squeaks of delight are a little too much to ignore, even though she's doing her best to muffle them in Ox's sleeve. Eventually, they have to come up for air, and Lucy basks in Jack's smile (and his ruffled hair) for a second before turning to face his family. 

Her family. She's going to marry Jack (Jack!), and that makes them her family, too. The idea overwhelms her, and she has to look down, blinking back tears.

"Hey," Jack says, his voice rough and worried. Lucy impatiently swipes at her eyes, and smiles up at him.

"Happy tears," she promises. " _Very_ happy tears."

"Okay, then," he smiles back, and it's just the two of them again.

And then someone clears his throat very loudly behind the family, and there is hasty shuffling to make room for a group of early commuters to drop their tokens. By then, Mary has shoved her way past her brother into the booth and is hugging Lucy around the neck, jumping up and down and squealing.

Lucy hugs her back, but does not squeal (not really. Maybe a little), and then Ox and Midge and Saul and Elsie are all crowding forward with congratulations and laughter, and Midge is wiping away tears. And then more commuters show up, and there just isn't enough room for all of this happiness.

They work out a very noisy compromise; Mary will stay with Lucy in the booth until Lucy's last shift ends, then Jack will come drive them both home for dinner. Jack kisses Lucy goodbye, which is really, really nice. As they leave, Lucy can hear Midge making meal plans as they walk away, with Elsie loudly objecting to something about pot roast, and Saul telling Elsie to let Midge cook whatever she wants, it's a celebration. Lucy and Mary look at each other and giggle, then Mary throws her arms around Lucy's neck again.

"This is going to be so great!" she says, bouncing up and down again, so that Lucy's chin rattles against her head. "I get a sister, and she's _you_! And you're marrying Jack instead of Peter, which is so much better, because Peter is my brother and I love him and everything, but Jack is the _best_!"

"Yes. Yes, he is," Lucy agrees. She hugs her sister (sister!) back, and admires the sparkle on her left hand as she rakes in the next few tokens.

*****

Dinner is delicious, and dessert is excellent, but it could all taste like dust and Lucy wouldn't care, because she's at her family's table, sitting next to her fiance, and everyone talks over each other, and asks to pass the rolls, and Mary complains about Jack taking the last roll until he splits it with her, and Lucy could just happily sit there drinking it all in. 

But Midge and Elsie want to talk wedding plans -- well, Midge does; Elsie wants to talk about the weddings she's been to, at indeterminate points in the past, and make obscure observations about brides the rest of them didn't know or don't remember. 

After the disaster of her last "wedding", though, Lucy is really not ready to plan another one, even if it _will_ be in a church, not a chapel, with a groom who will be Jack. Jack eventually rescues her by pleading for some time with his fiancee; Midge promptly tears up and waves them out with the smile of a mother whose cup runneth over.

"So, you're sure you want to sign on for this?" Jack asks half-seriously, as they walk out onto the porch, the only quiet place in the house. 

Lucy wraps her Christmas scarf more closely around her neck, and wrinkles her nose up at him. "They're amazing, and you know it."

"I do," he admits. "I don't think I really appreciated it before."

"Well, you should." It's colder outside than she remembers, and she tucks herself into Jack's arms as much for warmth as because of how good it feels when he holds her. "Where's Peter?" she asks, a little more carefully.

Jack sighs. "He thought it would be… awkward. Honestly, I think he just needs a couple of days to get his mind back together from, you know, not actually having amnesia, and almost getting married, and wow, did you see his fiancee?"

"I did," Lucy nods against his chest, still a little shocked. "But I really need to apologize to him, because the whole amnesia thing was my fault. That was so bad…."

"It was Saul's fault," Jack corrects her, not sounding too upset. "And yes, Saul told us everything, including how many times he talked _you_ out of telling us. And that nurse, the one in the ER, who--"

"No, no," Lucy cuts him off. "That nurse is a very nice lady who made a really understandable mistake, and it was _not_ her fault. I said things wrong, and it was confusing, and that was _my_ fault."

"Okay, okay." Jack's chuckle makes his chest vibrate, and it is one of the best things she's ever felt. "We'll invite her to the wedding."

"Oh, god, don't say wedding," she moans. "Not for at least another week. Please?"

"No problem." He kisses the top of her head and snuggles her in closer. Which leads to kissing in much more interesting places, and wow, Lucy is looking forward to being married. 

To Jack.

*****

They do talk about the wedding, of course, and after a conversation that is, yes, very awkward, Peter agrees to be best man. "As long as you don't forget which of us you're actually marrying," he can't resist saying. Lucy hides behind her hair and tries to sink into the couch; Peter laughs, but it's not actually unkind. 

Midge and Ox know or are related to half of the greater Chicagoland area, and they're not constrained by a hospital chapel, so this wedding is going to be huge. Lucy's side will be small, so she makes up for that by hand-delivering invitations again. Celeste knows, of course -- Lucy called her the very first night to ask her to be maid of honor -- and Jerry just stands by the hot dog cart and sighs. 

"And whom are we marrying _this_ time?" he asks in the voice of a man who is fully prepared to start calling psychiatrists and staging interventions.

"I am marrying Jack," Lucy responds smugly, and Jerry's face relaxes. 

"Finally." He hugs Lucy and kisses her cheek, which seems like a good time to ask him for a teeny little favor like borrowing a train for the wedding pictures…..

*****

Mr. Fusco gives her a much bigger hug, and laments losing her as a tenant and prospective daughter-in-law, not that he ever really had much hope of that.. 

Joe Jr. takes the news, and his invitation, like a man -- not a tear in sight, and his lower lip only quivers a little. He issues a brief threat to Jack about treating Lucy right that almost manages to be actually threatening, and a few weeks later helps Lucy pick out her wedding shoes. She talks him into buying a pair for himself.

*****

Midge starts teaching Lucy to cook the traditional family meals right off; she's convinced if she doesn't, both Lucy and Jack will starve. Jack's ability to be good with his hands apparently stops at the kitchen door, and family legend (that is, Peter and Mary) tells of The Time Jack Set the Oven on Fire. For her part, Lucy looks back on a year's worth of microwave dinners, and is happy to learn.

Midge is teaching her pot roast and potatoes when Lucy finally has the nerve to bring up the subject. "Midge… I haven't really... we haven't had the chance to talk. About the whole… not really being engaged to Peter thing."

Midge flaps a hand at her, occupied with peeling little baby potatoes. "Oh, Lucy, that wasn't your fault, honey. And it all worked out for the best, so it's fine."

Lucy bites her lips, certain that forgiveness shouldn't come this fast. "No, it's not. I… I _lied_ to you -- or, at least, I didn't tell you the truth, and everyone was so upset, and I caused all of that trouble for you when Peter was already hurt, and…" she has to stop to take a deep, shaky breath, "and I'm so, so sorry--"

"Lucy Eleanor Moderatz!" Midge turns on her with hands on hips, and Lucy gets her first look at the woman who has raised three children, and keeps Ox in line. "I don't want to hear anything from you about causing trouble! You saved my Peter's life, young lady, and you gave us something to hope for during a _horrible_ Christmas, and if you think I've forgotten that, then you have another think coming!"

Lucy doesn't really remember her mother, but she's pretty sure this is what it would have felt like to be yelled at by her. Tears well up before she can stop them, and Midge immediately stops being upset so she can throw her arms around Lucy. 

"Oh, don't cry, sweetie," she croons, rocking Lucy back and forth, and Lucy clings to her gratefully. "You're a good girl, Lucy. All that's important is that you saved Peter, and you're here now, and you're going to marry my Jack. And then, God willing, you're going to give me beautiful grandchildren who will be kind and brave. Just like their mother." 

Which is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to her. Lucy starts crying and then Midge starts crying, and they hug each other in the middle of the kitchen until Ox comes in to ask if they're cooking dinner or what. He takes one look and backs out again in a hurry. 

Lucy and Midge watch him retreat and start laughing; after tears are wiped and noses blown, they go back to cooking, side by side.

Lucy never brings it up again. No one else does, either, except in teasing family stories every Christmas.

*****

The wedding is almost overwhelming, with the amazing church, the beautiful flowers (Elsie took command of those; three baffled florists later, the church is a garden of white and rose), and Father O'Shea at the altar looking really, really impressive. Wanda and Mary and Celeste go down the aisle in front of Lucy in their rose-red dresses, happy and smiling, with huge bouquets.

(Wanda cried when Lucy came to the hospital to ask her to be a bridesmaid, but honestly, who knows what would have happened if Wanda hadn't gotten confused that night?)

And then it's Lucy's turn. 

She grips Saul's arm, takes a deep breath to blow away memories of that last not-wedding, and wishes silently for her father. Saul pats her hand and tells her, "He would be very proud of you. And I just know he would have loved Jack."

And she knows he's right, so she's able to smile as she walks down the aisle to Jack. Who is much more handsome in his rented tuxedo than Peter is in his hand-tailored tux, and she knows neither of them would believe her if she told them that. But it's true. She doesn't really remember the ceremony, she's too busy sneaking looks at Jack, and at Mary, and at Ox and Midge and Elsie in the front pew (Elsie happily waves one gloved hand whenever their eyes meet, and Lucy has to choke back giggles). Then the priest declares them man and wife; Jack kisses her, and Mary squeals in happiness, and Lucy is never going to be alone again.

*****

Florence is…. everything she ever wanted. So is her honeymoon.

*****

Coming back to real life is a little harder than Lucy expected; Jack has orders backed up for his carpentry business, but Lucy is still unemployed. Jack thinks she should go back to school, but she feels too old to be a student, like she'd look silly sitting in a classroom with all of those kids. Jack shakes his head, and asks her to help him prepare invoices while she thinks about it.

Which she turns out to be pretty good at -- invoices, that is. Jack's filing system is pretty much the front seat of his truck, so she sorts the paperwork into neat piles, and puts them into color-coded folders, and buys a filing cabinet for Jack's workshop.

When Ox hears about that, he immediately steals her away to his office. It's really obvious where Jack got his total lack of filing skills, and Lucy spends a few weeks sorting everything out. She also answers the phone, and helps Ox go through the obituaries, and eventually starts going along to help run the estate sales. And she's good at that, too.

"My daughter, Lucy," Ox tells people proudly, one big arm hugging her close to his side. "She's got a real head for business, I couldn't get anything done without her."

Lucy blushes hotly and looks down at her feet, and hugs Ox back.

She ends up taking bookkeeping classes. And she doesn't feel silly at all.

*****

As much as Lucy loves her new jobs, she loves the evenings and weekends even more. Telling Midge about her day as she helps cook meals, listening to Elsie's rambling anecdotes, and moderating the constant, low-level war Elsie fights with Saul that both of them love. Mary and Lucy snuggle together on the couch and have giggly talks about boys and school, and serious talks about SATs. 

It takes Mary most of an evening of pleading and begging to persuade Lucy to escort her and three of her friends to a Jewel concert ("--so I told them it would be okay, because my sister would take us, and it would be so much more fun with you, Lucy! Just girls!"). Faced with that level of enthusiasm, Lucy gives in helplessly; Jack shakes his head at Lucy and calls her a pushover. But he's smiling when he says it, and she knows he loves how much she loves his baby sister.

The concert actually is a lot of fun, and Mary's friends are flatteringly impressed by her cool big sister. Lucy herds them through the huge arena to their seats, keeps track of them as they dart from souvenir stand to souvenir stand, and clamps her hands over her ears as they scream in such gleeful delight that she can barely hear the pretty young singer performing on stage.

Mary tugs her hand down at one point, and demands, "Isn't this awesome?" and Lucy nods and agrees. Because it really is.

*****

The best times, though, are the times with Jack -- walking down the street holding hands, sitting together at Mary's school play, watching movies in their apartment, even fighting over whose turn it was to start the dishwasher. Every day with him feels like a gift, all by itself, and Lucy never, ever takes it for granted.

So, that's the way Lucy's life turns out. Not like she planned it, at all, which is okay, except that she still misses her father sometimes. She pictures him sitting in Heaven with her mother and smiling down at the Callaghans, and sometimes, she waves back up to them. Jack always smiles at her when she does, and gives a little wave upwards himself. Then he hugs her close, so close, like he's never going to let go.

Peter tries to get them to name their first baby after him.

Luckily, it's a girl.

FIN

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks to Christina K and lunalibre, who came through in a mad scramble when I realized almost done is not the same thing as done. And to lunarknightz, for giving me the excuse to write a story I always wanted to write. I'm glad you liked it. :)


End file.
